GPU upgrade options for HP Prodesk 400 G6 MT?

[prodeskuser]

Hi.

I am looking to upgrade my HP Prodesk 400 G6 MT by adding a GPU for some 1080p gaming. According to this page, I have a few options. I have a 310W PSU:

And I believe I have the right cable to meet the TDP requirements (the 8 pin to SATA one. Two of the SATA slots will connect to the proprietary 6-pin HP cable):

After some time searching, I narrowed my choices down to 2: the RX 6600 and RTX 4060. I'm fairly sure they will work with the i7-9700 in my Prodesk. Right now, the  RTX 4060 is quite costly where I live, with almost no secondhand copies for sale. A new one costs over 150% the price of a brand new RX 6600. Meanwhile, I can find a secondhand RX 6600 at less than half the price of the RTX. As far as I understand it, they are not drastically different performance-wise. Earlier this year, I was considering the RTX A2000, but its price to performance ratio looks to be worse than either of these two.

Which one should I buy, or is it better to wait for a new release or consider another GPU? Not many low-power ones are out there, sadly. Are there any risks or anything else I should know about doing this upgrade?

Thanks beforehand.

[NonSequitur777]

@prodeskuser,

Welcome to our peer-to-peer HP Community Forum!

Two of my legacy HP desktop upgrade projects (HP ProDesk 600 G3/G4 MT) are very similar to yours, and I found a 400-watt power supply with p/n: 942332-001 which may very well be compatible with your HP ProDesk 400 G6 MT's 310-watt power supply (p/n: L08262-004):

A 400-watt power supply would allow you to install an RX 6600 XT (better suited for 1080P gaming), RTX 2060, or an HP or Dell-branded RTX 3060 graphics card, or any other RTX 3060 which only requires one 8-pin PCIe power cable.

Hope this was helpful.

Kind Regards,

NonSequitur777

[prodeskuser]

Hi @NonSequitur777, thank you for the welcome!

That sounds interesting. How is the power usage in your projects? Did you upgrade or keep the original CPU?

I'm asking because I'm curious about whether a 310w PSU will suffice for my build. Let's say I pick the RTX 4060 because at 115w TDP, it's the most power efficient compared to the RTX 3060 or RX 6600/XT. The i7-9700 (no K) uses 65w, and I'm not planning on overclocking or doing anything extra, so my estimation is that my Prodesk will use up 70% of its wattage at most. I will use an 8-pin-to-SATA connector to circumvent my PSU's lack of an 8-pin cable. Does that pose any risks? I suppose upgrading to the 400w PSU is the safer option.

Another option I'm considering is buying a generic PSU just to power the GPU. I would like to have the option of using the PSU for a future build.

[NonSequitur777]

@prodeskuser,

An RTX 4060 according to TechPowerUp could, theoretically, be powered with your 310-watt power supply (see: ASUS DUAL RTX 4060 V2 OC Specs | TechPowerUp GPU Database), but I would still strongly recommend the 400-watt power supply.

If you were to try to power an RTX 4060 with your existing power supply, I would strongly recommend using a dual 15-pin SATA to 8-pin PCIe power conversion cable:

But like I mentioned, this is far from ideal and may cause issues for your card and/or desktop.

Kind Regards,

NonSequitur777

[prodeskuser]

Great, thank you for the tip. My Prodesk comes with a 6-pin to dual SATA cable that connects to the motherboard. Will I need to attach both SATA cables to the adapter cable you mentioned, or is one SATA connection enough?

If I do end up with the RTX 4060, I'm hoping to do some undervolting to push down the wattage. I guess the A2000 is the safest option with no PSU upgrade. I've heard it does quite well when overclocked (probably not as good as the 4060, but still really good considering the power consumption). 

[NonSequitur777]

@prodeskuser,

For an 8-pin PCIe power cable, you'll need two 15-pin SATA power cables, undervolting your card or not. Again, this may work or it may underpower an RTX 4060.

Kind Regards,

NonSequitur777

[prodeskuser]

OK then. Will a 6+2 cable work or does it need to be 8 pin? I can't seem to find a solid 8-pin one where I live.

[NonSequitur777]

@prodeskuser,

Well, 6+2-pin is the same as an 8-pin, as long as it got dual 15-pin SATA power connectors.

Kind Regards,

NonSequitur777

[prodeskuser]

Oh that's good to know. Thanks again for the help @NonSequitur777!

[NonSequitur777]

@prodeskuser,

You're welcome!

Kind Regards,

NonSequitur777